What if all the major news outlets reported that sticking a clean knife completely through your arm would reduce the possibilty for getting cancer by 75%?
Although completely illogical, what percentage of the American public would go ahead and do it anyways… following someone else’s opinion instead of thinking through the decision/information themselves?
Hello F(r)iends,
-Thirst4Humor
haha seriously though… I want some guesses.
i already misunderstood what you said and went ahead and stabbed myself. twice. thanks a lot.
and this isnt too far fetched. maybe in america it is, but has anyone seen the bloody video footage of the holy shiite holiday that i think is referred to as “Stab Yourself in the Head Day”. cleans your soul, apparently. it also focuses all emotional outrage towards whatever your priest says, which is pretty much never the domestic rich people taking your money.
Somewhat less than the number of folks who quit smoking for the same reasons- not too many, then.
I don’t think too many would. I’ll stab at a figure under .25% of total primary viewers. This isn’t including people who follow the directions wrong e.g. rubbing the knife along their arm, cutting their arm off, etc. . . 
If you want more people to commit masochistic acts of stupidity, as Future Man showed, you have to get them while they’re young. 
this is a great plan, i’m proud to be a part of this plan.
I would have said more like 25… if it was properly packaged in the usual CNN colorful ribbons of bullshit. Call up the ‘experts’ and all that.
Either way… it would definately be above 1%
A radio convinced tons of people aliens were invading the world! Yea… it would definately be above 10%
yea… it doesnt matter how high the percentage is. we all know there would be some idiot somewhere who would do it and that is sad enough to make you actually stab yourself.
Orson Welles, I love that guys stuff but to compare what he did (and someone else in South America[?] who was put in jail) to the example before us: “What if all the major news outlets reported that sticking a clean knife completely through your arm would reduce the possibilty for getting cancer by 75%?†(OG), is to make a false comparison.
Here is my explanation: While Welles’ radio drama, by presenting itself or being perceived as a declaration of immediate danger, worked with people’s instinctual fears of fight or flight which only requires a timely reaction to avoid whatever (death, pain, etc.), the example of self mutilation, by being a method which doesn’t require an immediate reaction, does not work with this fear . That along with the chance of pain and the modicum of planed effort needed for its fulfillment, in my opinion, would reduce the number of attempt-tees.
If they are easily excitable and pain doesn‘t discourage them I think the planed effort will 
. I mean you have to find a knife sharp enough, long enough, clean enough, someone else to run it through for you, something to restrain your movements, anesthesia, etc. I contrast this with the unplanned effort which consists of “Head for the hills ma! And run over everything that gets in the way!â€
Also my .25% was of people who followed the directions correctly, if I were to include others who did not follow the directions correctly but made an ‘attempt’ I could see it above 1% say 10%. (e.g. “If putting the knife through my arm reduces the possibility for getting cancer by 75% then putting the knife on the side and against my arm must reduce it by at least 50% right? yeah I think that’s right! And if I combine that with happy thoughts and chocolate then. . .†)
Now if the comparison was with all the major news stations reporting that nuclear bombs were on their way to a neighbor hood near you we would then, I believe, get a similar reaction to the Welles case. Hell, even make them nuclear bombs from Martians! I don’t know where people would run to but I have few doubts that people would just start running around in general. (I have a cave in mind packed with canned foods…Damn! I need to remember to put a can opener in there!).
Fair enough. I can see your urgency point.